Divers feed champagne to a fresh water pike in
a lake near Opole, Poland. Three Polish divers face a police investigation for possible
illegal fishing and animal abuse during an outdoor New Year's party. 'They may have
committed offenses of poaching and maltreating a fish,' said Maria Niedziolka of the
National Fishing Authority, which notified police of the incident.

January 2

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A pony rubs his nose on a cat in the Budakeszi
game park near Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2004, after snow started to
fall in the morning hours in some parts of Hungary.

January 3

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'Honey, Feel Like Saving a Little Water?' MANILA - Couples in the Philippine capital have been asked
to start sharing the tub at bath time as part of a conservation drive. "Start
sharing baths with your partner to conserve water," the environment department
advised the parched capital's 12 million residents. Unseasonably dry weather has depleted
water levels in the main reservoirs supplying the metropolis and officials were meeting
on Friday to consider rationing and other measures. Environment Secretary Elisea Gozun
warned things could get worse before the monsoon season begins in May and said officials
were "sounding the alarm early to avoid a water shortage."

January 4

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Tipping the scale : Eleven-month-old baby elephant
'Califa' stands on a scale the Hanover zoo during the annual weighing of the 2,663
animals from 240 species.

January 5

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Japanese businessmen hold a service aimed at fending
off viruses and glitches for their computers in a purification ceremony conducted
by a Shinto priest according to Shinto rituals at Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo

January 6

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Levi's Closes Last Two U.S. Sewing Plants

SAN ANTONIO - Levi Strauss & Co., the California
Gold Rush outfitter whose blue jeans are a globally recognized symbol of America,
closed its last two U.S. sewing plants Thursday. About 800 workers at the 26-year-old
San Antonio plants lost their jobs in the move, which was announced last September.
The financially troubled company, based in San Francisco,
has been shifting production to overseas contractors for years to offset drooping
sales in the ultra-competitive apparel market. Only two decades ago, it had 63 U.S.
manufacturing plants. Levi Strauss spokesman Jeff Beckman
said the 150-year-old company was making a delayed but unavoidable business decision.
"We tried to do our best to maintain manufacturing in
the United States, but we have to be competitive to survive as a company,"
he said.

January 7

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Man's Apartment Encased in Aluminum Foil

OLYMPIA,
Wash. - What kind of friends coat your apartment — and nearly everything in
it — with tinfoil while you're away? Here's a hint: One of the only objects
that escaped the shiny treatment was a book titled "Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends."
Chris Kirk found his downtown Olympia apartment encased in aluminum foil when he returned
home Monday night from a trip to Los Angeles. The walls, ceiling, cabinets and everything
in between shimmered, after the prank orchestrated by Kirk's longtime friend, Luke
Trerice, 26, who was staying in the apartment while Kirk was away."He's
known for large-scale strangeness," Kirk, 33, told The Olympian. "He warned
me that he would be able to touch my stuff, but it didn't sound so bad." Trerice,
who lives in Las Vegas, and a small group of friends draped the apartment with about
4,000 square feet of aluminum foil, which cost about $100. Not surprisingly, the idea
was hatched on New Year's Eve. "It was just a spur of the moment thing,"
Trerice said. "I really don't even consider it art. I consider it a psychology
project. ... He seems to be upbeat, so I consider this a success. No
detail was too small or too time-consuming. The toilet paper was unrolled, wrapped
in foil, then rolled back up again. The friends covered Kirk's book and compact disc
collections but made sure each CD case could open and shut normally. They even used
foil on each coin in Kirk's spare change. And to sweeten the theme, they left silver
Hershey's kisses sprinkled throughout the apartment. "The toilet was hard. The
molding around the doorways took a very long time," Trerice said. Aside from
"Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends," which doesn't include this particular trick,
only a portrait of his girlfriend, the bed and a bath mat were left unfoiled."He
took special pains not to move anything," Kirk said. A foil-encased picture hanging
outside his apartment was Kirk's first clue that something inside was amiss. "I
heard him open the door and gasp and start laughing," said Beth Kelly, who lives
in an apartment down the hall. "I love the quarters. It's almost more funny realizing
the things that were left unwrapped."Andras
Jones, who lives on the same floor, became curious about what was transpiring in Kirk's
apartment as he noticed "a parade of strange characters" going in and out.
Since Kirk's return the entire building has been buzzing about the transformation,
Jones said. "There's a party atmosphere down by the room," Jones said. "Of
course, everyone has their favorite part. I think the kitchen is just amazing."
Kirk's
awestruck neighbors and friends kept him up until late Monday night. He hasn't started
unpacking his belongings and isn't sure when he will. " As I was trying to sleep
last night, I realized that, actually, it's creepy," Kirk said. And as for whether
Trerice will ever be allowed to stay again at the apartment unsupervised, Kirk said:
"I don't know. We'll see."But Trerice hopes Kirk will find a way to get
him back. "I'm going to be insulted if he doesn't try," Trerice said. "It's
kind of a challenge."

January 8

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NASA to Start From
Scratch in New Effort

If
NASA returns astronauts to the moon and then takes aim at Mars, the agency will
have to go back to the drawing board to get the job done. The rockets, equipment
and engineers that put American footprints on lunar soil have long been lost, junked
or retired. For the seven moon-landing missions from 1969 through 1972, NASA built
craft designed specifically for single landings and short stays. The command ship
accommodated three astronauts and the lunar lander only two. The reserves of power
and propulsion were tightly budgeted, a problem that almost cost the lives of the
astronauts on the only failed landing mission, Apollo 13.
Apollo was drilled into space with the giant Saturn V rocket, the most powerful
launcher ever built by the United States. After the Apollo program ended, the equipment,
tools and plans for building the rocket were lost. A new lunar and Mars effort could
require even larger lift rockets, depending on the mission scheme selected.
For an extended lunar expedition, which sources said Thursday is what President
Bush has in mind, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration would need to
design and build a large mother ship, able to transport a number of crew members
and a large inventory of supplies and equipment. If the mission design follows the
Apollo plan, the agency also would have to build a landing craft able to ferry crew
and supplies between the moon's surface and a command ship in lunar orbit.
A colony on the moon almost certainly would require an atomic reactor for power.
Some small reactors were used on six Apollo missions, but they were designed to
produce just enough electrical power to operate scientific instruments left on the
surface.
For Mars, everything required by a moon voyage
would have to be multiplied, perhaps many fold. Some who have studied Mars exploration
say a manned expedition would last at least three years, with long voyage out and
back, and just a limited stay. All fuel, water and other supplies would have to
be carried along or sent ahead on robot craft. The crew size would have to be expanded
to allow for sickness or death that is likely for such a risky expedition. Over
the years, NASA has conducted a number of basic studies aimed at achieving the moon
and Mars.
The Apollo missions depended on the powerful
three-stage Saturn V rocket that vaulted the craft into Earth orbit and then restarted
to drill it toward the moon. After leaving Earth orbit, the third stage of the Saturn
V was discarded and the momentum of the rocket firing carried the craft outward
until it slipped into the grip of lunar orbit. It was rather like throwing up a
baseball that was then captured at the top of its arc by the moon's gravity.
NASA has tested an ion rocket system that could
be used to continually accelerate a spacecraft with a steady pulse after the craft
leaves Earth orbit. Such a rocket could trim the three days that Apollo needed to
reach the moon and shorten the voyage to Mars by months. Some experts have suggested
that robot craft loaded with supplies and equipment could be landed on the moon
and Mars ahead of an astronaut crew. That way the mothership could be reserved for
the human crew, which would use the supplies upon arrival.
NASA also has done studies on shelters for
the lunar surface, on vehicles that could be used for transport and on new surface
space suits. It also has studied the possibility of extracting rocket propellant
and oxygen from lunar soil, or from any water deposits that might be discovered
on the moon or Mars. No firm cost estimates have been developed, but informal
discussions have put the cost of a Mars expedition at nearly $1 trillion, depending
on how ambitious the project was. The cost of a moon colony, again, would depend
on what NASA wants to do on the lunar surface.

January 9

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Couple Swimming in $7.7 Million Water Bill DALLAS - A Texas couple needed a drink after they got a water bill for $7,714,510.21
instead of the usual $50 or $60. Stella and Chuck Richison were sent the bill
from the coastal city of Corpus Christi, Texas. The city has acknowledged that the
bill was sent in error because of a computer glitch. "They must have been thinking
we were watering all of Corpus Christi," Stella Richison said on Thursday.
She said she opened the letter from the utility seeking nearly $8 million and handed
it over to her husband, saying: "Honey, you've got a bill." They called
the water department to question if the figures were correct and were met by silence
on the other end of the phone. "Then, they all chuckled and they freaked out,"
Richison said. The Richisons plan to frame the $7.7 million water bill and hang it
in their house -- perhaps over the kitchen sink.

January 10

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Prankster Using Drive-Through Speaker TROY, Mich. - Some drive-through customers at a Burger
King are getting more with their meals than they expected. Police in the north
Detroit suburb are looking for someone who is using a device to broadcast on the same
frequency as a Burger King drive-through speaker, The Detroit News reported Thursday.
The person has interrupted business transactions three times, most recently Tuesday,
with obscene remarks to startled customers. When the 41-year-old manager went
outside to apologize to customers and look for the source of the mischief, a voice
boomed out of the outdoor speaker: "There's nothing you or the police can do
about this, so get ... back inside and take your goons with you," Troy Police
Lt. Gerry Scherlinck said. Police suspect the calls are being made by a radio
transmitter or walkie-talkie near the restaurant. The person could be charged with
a misdemeanor if caught. Kevin Barnes, a spokesman for Michigan Multi King, which
owns the restaurant, said his company wants to keep the incidents low-key. "It's
rare, but I've heard this has happened at other businesses," he said.

January 11

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Sixty-five percent of Britons don't know in which
US city the hit musical 'Chicago' is set in, according to a nationwide survey for
an upcoming TV quiz show. Sadly I think the percentage might even be lower for US
citizens, especially if you asked them to locate chicago on a map.

January 12

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'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin holds his baby son,
Bob, while feeding a giant crocodile with a dead chicken at Queenland Zoo in Queensland,
Australia. Irwin triggered outrage when he held his one-month-old baby while feeding
a snapping crocodile during a show at his Australian zoo.

January 13

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Churches Offer Free Movie to Boost Flocks
Four Church of England parishes are trying to boost their congregations by offering
free cinema tickets to watch Mel Gibson's controversial movie "The Passion of Christ."
Four churches in the Archbishop of Canterbury's diocese in the southeastern county of
Kent have block-booked 20,000 pounds ($37,020) of tickets to give away for the graphic
film depicting the torture and death of Jesus Christ in an effort to drum up new recruits.
"Gay bishops being thrown out of the Church is not the sort of publicity we need," Russ
Hughes, director of worship and prophecy at St Luke's -- one of the four churches involved
in the scheme -- told the Times newspaper Tuesday. "Hopefully this will put the emphasis
back on Christ. We are competing for people's attention with things like the 9/11 disaster
and Kylie Minogue's rear end, so we are not going to get people in by running a jumble
sale. "This is the greatest opportunity for the Church in the last 30 years and if we
did not use it we may not get such an opportunity again."

January 14

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McDonald's Salad Has More Fat Than Cheeseburger Global hamburger giant McDonald's latest line in healthy
looking salads may contain more fat than its hamburgers, according to the company's
Web Site. McDonald's, plagued by health critics and flattening sales, has launched the
biggest change to its menu in 30 years with its plans to get into the multi-million
pound prepared salad market. "You can choose your salad, topping and dressing. You can
mix and match to suit your diet and lifestyle," said a McDonald's spokeswoman. However,
consumers hoping to lose weight by switching from burgers to salads may be disappointed,
according to the Interactive Nutrition Counter on the McDonald's Web site. For example,
on the new menu to be launched at the end of this month, a "Caesar salad with Chicken
Premiere" contains 18.4 grams of fat compared with 11.5 grams of fat in a standard cheeseburger.
The British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) told Reuters it welcomed the salad menu but warned
that salad dressings bought in fast-food outlets or supermarkets could be very high
in fat and calories. BNF said the recommended daily fat intake for men is 95 grams per
day and for women 70 grams per day.

January 15

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Handyman Nailed with His Own Nail Gun An Australian handyman admitted he was stupid to shoot himself
in the head with a nail gun in a misguided prank that left him with a nail lodged in
his brain. Brad Shorten, a father of three from Victoria state, was enjoying a few beers
with friends after working on his house when they began joking about industrial accidents.
Shorten, 33, picked up a nail gun that he thought was empty, pointed it at his head
and pulled the trigger. He later said he had turned off the gun's compressor and taken
out its nail cartridge but did not realize there was still enough pressure in the gun
to fire a nail.

January 16

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Passionate Public Kiss in Indonesia Could Mean Jail Couples caught kissing passionately in public in Indonesia
could spend five years in jail. Members of parliament in the world's most populous Muslim
country have proposed an anti-pornography bill that includes a ban on kissing on the
mouth in public. "I think there must be some restrictions on such acts because it is
against our traditions of decency," said Aisyah Hamid Baidlowi, head of a parliamentary
committee drafting the bill. Heavy kissing could carry a maximum penalty of five years
in jail or a $29,000 fine. Anyone caught flashing would face similar penalties. The
bill also proposes bans on public nudity, erotic dances and sex parties, with jail terms
ranging from three to 10 years. Watching such shows could lead to two years behind bars.
Indonesians have long followed a moderate version of Islam, although an emphasis on
Muslim practices and identification with Islamic traditions have grown stronger in recent
years. Public displays of affection are frowned upon by many, though prostitution is
rampant in many parts of the archipelago.

January 17

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Illegal pigeon race called off after 5,000 birds drownAt least 5,000 pigeons
were killed when their cages fell of a cargo boat on the way to the start of an illegal
race off the Taiwan coast. AFP Photo About 30,000 birds were due to take part in the
third of a seven-leg race with about 100 million Taiwan dollars (three million US) of
illegal bets staked on the result. Gambling in Taiwan is allowed only on the state-run
lottery although the authorities often turn a blind eye to pigeon racing, which is hugely
popular on the island off China's southeast coast. The accident happened as chains holding
the bird cages became loose on one of the two boats taking the birds into the Bashi
Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, newspaper and television reports said. "I
have taken part in pigeon races for 20 years but such an accident has never happened
before," Tsai Jui-bin, an official of a pigeon association in central Chiayi county
was quoted as saying by the Chinese-daily United Daily News. The race was cancelled.

January 18

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Woman Tried to Pass Fake $1M BillA woman was caught trying to use a fake $1 million bill to buy
$1,675 worth of merchandise at a Wal-Mart, and was later found with two more of the
bills in her purse, police said. The United States Treasury does not make $1 million
bills, but people can buy souvenirs of such a bill at some stores, police said. "It
looks real, but of course there's nothing real about this," Covington Police Chief Stacey
Cotton said Tuesday. "People do crazy things all the time. I think it's just another
example of some odd things that occur." A clerk at the store immediately noticed the
bill was fake when 35-year-old Alice Regina Pike handed it to her on Friday, Cotton
said. Pike then tried to use two gift cards with only $2.32 of value on them to buy
the merchandise, but when that didn't work she again asked if the clerk could cash the
$1 million bill, Cotton said. The store then called police. Pike, of Porterdale, was
charged with forgery. There was no listing for her phone number in directory assistance,
and she could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Covington is 32 miles southeast of
Atlanta.

January 19

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Nebraska Mayor Implements Shaving `ban'Beware of going whiskerless in Lexington these days. Lexington
Mayor John Fagot has implemented a "ban" on shaving for every man in town older than
21. Those caught clean-shaven without a shaving permit could face being dunked in a
horse tank or other benign punishment. The mayor implemented the lighthearted ban to
get the town in the spirit of this summer's Plum Creek Days, a festival bearing the
town's former name. One of the festival's traditional highlights is a beard-growing
contest. The not-so-consequential edict is in effect until July 5, the last day of the
three-day festival. The ban is part of a Lexington-area tradition that began in 1939
with the first Plum Creek Days festival. Those wanting to shave can avoid being arrested
and taken to Kangaroo Court by purchasing a special shaving permit. Along with the shaving
ban, the mayor has proclaimed all men and women must dress in Western or historic clothing
on Fridays beginning in May. Kangaroo Court will be held every Friday beginning June
4 and will included "trumped-up charges and fun sentencing," Fagot said.

January 20

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Man Makes Youth His Designated DriversBAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A man who allegedly had a few too many
drinks decided he shouldn't drive drunk so he handed his car keys to his female companions
— all too young to drive, police said. Lionel Cerda told officers that he had been nodding
off, so he first let a 14-year-old drive. But when police pulled the car over after
midnight on Saturday, they found Cerda in the front seat, with empty bottles at his
feet, the 14-year-old in the back with an open can of beer, and a 10-year-old at the
wheel. "This," said Lt. Dave Haskins, "is a strange one." Officer Christina Abshire
saw a car swerving and breaking erratically, going 5 mph. She followed the car, then
pulled it over. As she walked over to the driver's window, the car sped off. She then
pulled it over again, and found the three inside. Abshire said Cerda explained to her
in thick, slurred speech that the girls were his relatives, and he was teaching them
how to drive. Cerda was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, contributing
to the delinquency of a minor and child endangerment.

January 21

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Boy, 11, Saves Mother After Heart Attack An 11-year old Belgian boy managed to resuscitate his mother
after she collapsed with a heart attack, just days after he received first aid training
in school, a Belgian daily said on Saturday. "I'm no hero. I just did what I had to
do," Ayrton Steenhout told Het Laatste Nieuws paper. His 37-year-old mother collapsed
on a family outing to the coastal town of Blankenberge. "If it wasn't for our son, my
wife wouldn't be sitting here any more," his proud father said. Ayrton's mother received
a pacemaker and is now out of hospital.

January 22

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Domestic Violence TV Show Leads to Shooting An Oklahoma woman shot
her husband to death during a fight after the couple watched a daytime TV talk show
on how to survive domestic violence, officials say. Teri Lynn Carver, 35 is not facing
charges for gunning down her husband Cecil, 38, at their home in the northeastern Oklahoma
town of Rose because evidence at the scene suggested the death was an accident, District
Attorney Gene Haynes said Monday. Police and prosecutors said the couple was in bed
on Feb. 24 smoking marijuana and watching a Montel Williams TV talk show on surviving
a lover's attack. Teri told her husband that his actions resembled those of abusive
husbands featured on the show, which caused Cecil to turn violent. Cecil then struck
his wife, fetched a handgun and fired a shot into the bed's headboard near Teri to show
that he did not like his wife calling him a violent partner, police said, citing a statement
the wife gave to investigators. Teri then called for help and when her husband tried
to wrestle the phone away from her, she reached for the gun. Teri shot her husband in
the arm and the bullet entered his chest, killing him, police said. Evidence at the
scene and reports from neighbors seem to support Teri's statement, police said. "The
TV show gave them a reason to fight, but in a situation of domestic violence, they really
don't need an excuse," said Lt. Pat Knowles, a police detective for Mayes County.

January 23

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January 24

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Topless March Is a Bust A demonstration billed
as a topless march to protest anti-nudity laws drew thousand of curious spectators Sunday
but only a handful of marchers. Organizers had expected 1,000 topless women to march
down Main Street in Daytona Beach and voice their outrage over the arrest of women who
bare their breasts during spring break events. Local officials say hundreds of women
are carted off to jail each year for exposing their breasts on the beach, in bars and
on the streets. But after a federal judge refused to stop police from arresting female
protesters who doffed their tops, only about 50 women made the march. And only one,
organizer Liz Book, took off her shirt. Book was immediately arrested and taken to jail,
though a bare-chested man who marched was unmolested. "I don't ever want to see another
woman arrested because someone showed her breasts," said Book, a 42-year-old Brownie
troop leader. "Our breasts are not criminal."

January 25

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Seniors Brawl After Salad Bar DisputeA dispute at the salad bar
turned into a food fracas at an upscale retirement home, with a man taking a bite out
of another's arm and other residents suffering minor injuries. Police said resident
Lee Thoss, 62, of the Spring Haven Retirement Community was picking through the lettuce,
which disgusted 86-year-old William Hocker, who was standing in line behind him. Hocker
told Thoss no one wanted to eat food he had been playing with. Thoss yelled and cursed
at him, Hocker told police, and Hocker called him a nasty name. Then, witnesses said,
Thoss then began punching Hocker in the face. In the buffet melee that followed, Allen
Croft, 79, tried to grab Thoss, who bit him on the arm, reports said. Thoss' mother,
Arlene, in her 80s and also a Spring Haven resident, jumped in to break up the fight
and ended up with a cut arm. Harry Griffin, 92, was standing at the salad bar and cut
his head when he was knocked to the ground. "All the old folks were either getting up
to help or trying to get out of there," police spokesman J.J. Stanton said of the scene
last Sunday in the well-appointed dining room, which features an ice cream bar and a
pastry chef. Arlene Thoss, Croft and Griffin were treated at a local hospital and released.
Stanton said all involved declined to press charges, but home administrators have asked
Lee Thoss to move out.

January 26

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Woman Served Salad with Human ThumbAn Ohio woman was served a salad
containing part of a restaurant worker's thumb sliced off while chopping lettuce, a
health official said on Friday. The woman "thought it was gristle or something like
that" when she tried to chew the unexpected garnish, said William Franks, health commissioner
for Stark County, where the incident occurred earlier this week. "Physically I think
she's OK, other than hysteria," Franks added. Stark County officials did not release
the woman's name. The restaurant worker accidentally sliced off the tip of his thumb
while chopping the ingredients on Monday night at the Red Robin restaurant near Canton,
Ohio, he said. Despite a search, it could not be found. "The salad should have been
discarded," Franks said. Instead, the workers sanitized the counter area and then refrigerated
the ingredients before rushing off to get medical help for the man. The salad fixings
were then served to a lunch crowd on Tuesday, when the piece of thumb was discovered
by the patron. The restaurant is part of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. .

January 27

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Customs Gets Tribeswoman's GoatA Gambian tribeswoman has been arrested at a London airport
with her bags crammed with illegal snails, catfish and goat meat. Nenneh Nyana Jaiteh,
48, was arrested after arriving on Friday from Banjul, Gambia, with 187 pounds of illegal
animal products in her bags, Customs and Excise said Sunday. "That's a significant amount
of meat -- more than the weight of an average adult male," said spokeswoman Kathryn
Corcoran.

January 28

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Marijuana Found in Load of Frozen ChickensFrozen chickens and marijuana — a combination that put the
driver of a tractor-trailer rig in jail. The man, whose name has not been released,
was arrested Saturday after an officer from the state's Motor Transportation Division
found 1,240 pounds of marijuana hidden in a load of frozen chickens. The truck was headed
for the Midwest when it was pulled over on Interstate 25 near Raton as part of a routine
traffic stop. The officer became suspicious and a search of the truck turned up the
marijuana.

January 29

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World's Oldest Man Dies at 114 in SpainA retired Spanish shoemaker
who was officially the world's oldest man has died at his home at the age of 114, his
family said on Saturday. The Guinness World Records recognized Joan Riudavets Moll as
the world's oldest man following the death of Japan's Yukichi Chuganji, also 114, in
September. Riudavets, who attributed his longevity to a life of moderation, was born
on Dec. 15, 1889 -- the year Adolf Hitler and Charlie Chaplin were born and the year
the Eiffel Tower was completed. He had been retired for half a century. He died at home
in Es Migjorn Gran on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Menorca on Friday night, a
police spokesman there said. "I spoke to him a few days ago and he had all his faculties,"
the spokesman said. "He spoke and reasoned perfectly well without any problems. It was
a natural death; he had not been ill." Riudavets' grandson said he was still taking
walks at the end of his life and was always surrounded by friends. "He nearly always
had people around him and he had a great gift for words," his eldest grandson, Pablo,
told Reuters. "There were a lot of anecdotes." Riudavets, who joined the family shoe-making
business and retired in 1954, lived to see huge advances in medicine and science, but
he never stopped marveling at inventions like the airplane -- first flown when he was
a teenager -- and electricity. "The airplane was something incredible, but the most
important change was electricity -- without doubt, it changed everything," the Guinness
Web site quoted him as saying. He attributed his long life to doing everything in moderation,
including smoking "but not too much." He used to sleep up to 14 hours a day but also
enjoyed playing football and the guitar. Trini Pinto Alvarez, who lives in the village,
said: "He was a shoemaker, he worked hard, had a good life ... Everybody knew him. When
he had birthdays, the village threw fiestas."

January 30

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Unlucky number "4" deleted from license platesOfficials in south China
have decided to delete the number four, which is traditionally considered unlucky, from
license plates, drawing flak for encouraging superstition state media said. AFP/File
Photo "Four" sounds almost exactly like "death" when pronounced both in the local Cantonese
dialect and in Mandarin, causing many car owners to shy away from having it on their
license plates, the China Daily reported Monday. The number has been cleared from the
computer data banks in Guangdong province that generate the license numbers, meaning
that by the end of the year no new license plate will include four among its six digits,
it said. The paper suggested that some officials might actually believe removing the
unlucky number from license plates could have a real effect on traffic safety. "The
rising number of traffic accidents has been troubling everyone from policy makers and
traffic management officials to motorists and pedestrians so much that all measures
are being considered to solve the problem," it said. While some locals have welcomed
the move, others have attacked it as caving in to superstition and traditional beliefs,
which have made a comeback in recent years. Dread of the number four extends far beyond
license plates, with many buildings in the province lacking a fourth floor, the paper
said. New cellphone users in Guangdong are often also offered compensation of up to
500 yuan (60 dollars) if they choose a number ending with a four, according to the paper.

January 31

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Mozart's 'healing power' touted in concertA British millionaire
convinced of the "healing power" of the music of Mozart for mothers-to-be and newborns
will host a series of piano recitals at which they will be his guests. AFP/File Photo
Expectant women and children under three will be admitted free to the first recital,
in London's Saint George Hall, where the audience will be encouraged to take part in
the "healing power of the Mozart effect," according to Sheepdrove Trust, an association
financed by multi-millionaire Peter Kindersley. Other adult concert-goers will pay six
pounds (nine euros), and children over three will get in for three pounds. Kindersley
had the idea of holding a series of concerts for infants and expectant mothers after
hearing about research findings that classical music, especially Mozart, can stimulate
alpha waves in the brain, which engender a sense of well-being. Other studies on premature
babies have shown that playing Mozart for them helps raise the amount of oxygen absorbed
by the blood. The concert in the 500-seat Saint George Hall will be the first in a series
of recitals to be given by Russian pianist Mikhail Kazakevich aimed at babies and the
unborn.